By Sam Conner
The Winslow City Council produced more significant action regarding the city manager position after its second executive session on Tuesday than has been the case in most regular sessions.
The first executive session was for legal advice and discussion regarding the Winslow Development Authority and economic development incentives. No action was taken following that session.
The second session was for legal advice regarding the city manager. There was significant action following that session, including permitting City Manager Jim Ferguson to participate in the SmartWorks retire/rehire program, which was to be the subject of the third executive session and which was now not necessary.
Other actions taken after the second executive session were the creation of a manager on duty designee to act as the city manager when the manager is not available. The council also acted to require the city manager to get council approval to change titles of city employees and give pay increases to employees. The city manager was asked to give the council periodic updates by e-mail or other means. He was also asked to take action to stop city employees from using city computers to conduct personal business. Finally, the council approved having the executive secretary receive all phone calls in person rather than having them answered by a machine.